Imaginal means “of or relating to an image.” Also, an imaginal cell is the unique biological entity that appears in a cocoon after the caterpillar disappears, and before the butterfly exists; it is the mysterious material that becomes the butterfly. And we extend our definition to include “of or relating to the imagination.” Clearly, all creative works are products of the artist’s imagination, and have a visual image associated with them. Thus, the GATE Imaginal Awards.
The GATE Imaginal Awards is the first competition, similar to the Oscars®, Grammys®, and Emmys®, honoring the best works in the transformational entertainment, media and arts field.
Every property awarded the GATE Seal will automatically be entered in the competition. All Imaginal Awards entries will be categorized. GATE judges will narrow the entries in each category, then the professional membership of GATE will vote to determine the winners. The Imaginal Award will be given to the work judged Best in each category.
Works created, commercially released, and submitted to GATE between October 15, 2011 and October 15, 2012 will be eligible for the first Imaginal Awards. Award winners will be honored at a celebratory dinner and ceremony each year in February, during the entertainment awards season, officially beginning in 2013. However, an initial four or five awards will be presented at GATE 2 on February 4, 2012.
A distinguished European ceramist, Rupert Spira, was commissioned to design the Imaginal Award. The award will feature the following poem by the artist –
The Unknowable Reality of Things
I take my pen
from its sheath
and offer
its sharp linear blackness
unknowing
to this open expanse
of empty white
and give the world
time
to find itself
inviting it
to unravel
the lineaments
of hills and fields
of rivers and seas
and skies and minds
to wrap
in abstract gestures
the shape
of silent things
that cannot be told
to weave
its searching thread
on the page
like a trail of smoke
in an empty sky
to trace the residue
of its waiting
making known
the unknowable
reality of things
with its fading line
to invite
the shapelessness
of things
to take shape
and to make
a vessel
from which to taste itself
and as I turn the page
the world
again
closes its eyes
and untangles
the woven fabric
of its dreaming
giving itself back
in silence
to the bright empty
unknowable
reality of things
Rupert Spira
From an early age, Rupert Spira was intensely interested in the nature of reality. At the age of 17, he started studying and practicing the teachings of the classical Advaita tradition, which he continued for the next for twenty years. During this time, he immersed himself in the teachings of P. D. Ouspensky, Krishnamurti, Rumi, Shankaracharya, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta and Robert Adams, until he met his teacher, Francis Lucille, in 1997. Francis introduced Rupert to the teachings of Jean Klein and Atmanada Krishnamenon and, more importantly, directly indicated to him the true nature of experience.
He lives in UK and holds regular meetings and retreats in Europe and USA.